The cauldron was worthless. A fragment, barely the size of a rice bowl, its spiritual engravings long
corroded. Yet the mission demanded restoration. Kai had no tools, no coin, no trade. Just dirt under his nails
and a gut that ached from emptiness.
He wandered.
In the smithing district of the lower city, the clang of metal rang like heartbeat. He approached a furnaceside forge where old men bent over glowing steel. Kai tried speaking to one—an iron-bearded artisan
known as Forge Master Guo.
"I'll clean the ash pits for a week. Just show me how to re-etch spiritual veins," Kai begged.
Guo looked up, sneered, and spat. "No time for rats."
Kai was chased off. Three more workshops later, he was bruised, his lip bleeding, his hope leaking like water
from a cracked jar.
He sat by the garbage heap and held the bronze fragment.
[Mission Progress: 0%. Attempted Resource Acquisition: Failed.]
He sighed. "Then teach me."
[Permission Denied. System does not grant skills unless mission completed.]
It was maddening. Like being told to fly with no wings, build with no hands.
[Tip: Study. Observe. Create. Adapt.]
He gritted his teeth and looked back at the heap. There, among discarded tools, was a shattered etching
pen—a stylus used for forming array lines on talismans. One end was broken, the other still intact.
He pocketed it.
That night, as the cold settled into his bones, he scraped his first diagram on a clay shard.